From page 4
customer is increasing, as are customer re-
newals,” said Palsule. “We also realize that the
cost to upgrade can be expensive, so we are
going to help ease that transition and make it
easier overall to do business with us.”
Palsule noted that another key product
focus for Sage would be in hosted or cloud-
based software, delivered through a new
program known as Sage Connected Business
Solutions. The most recent examples include
Sage Exchange, a new secure payments sys-
tem to allow small and midsized businesses
and organizations to accept all forms and
methods of payment, and Sage Fundraising
Online, a Software-as-a-Service application
that will allow nonprofits to create multiple
giving forms with marketing messages to bet-
broken out into discussion groups to an-
swer pointed questions on where the AICPA
should focus. Much emphasis was directed
toward the business and industry section of
the institute (those in private practice) — and
plans to get more members from that field
involved in AICPA initiatives and issues.
Advertiser Page
1st global ............................................ 19
accountants World................................. 23
aDp Small Business Services.................. 7
Bank of america ..................................... 9
CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business............ 40
Cougar mountain Software .................... 15
The michigan association of Cpas ......... 35
The National association of
Certified Valuation analysts .............. 25
The rainmaker academy ....................... 11
Thomson reuters ................................... 2
Verizon Wireless ..................................... 5
ADVERTISER
INDEX
PARTNER REACTION
Partners and analysts alike were encouraged
by the company’s product roadmap, particularly in Internet-based services.
“I’ve been saying to them for years that
they can’t come out with a Web-based product initiative fast enough. While the Exchange
and Online Fundraising initiatives are good,
I’m more excited about what X3 and Accpac
6.0 will be able to do [on the accounting/ERP
side of the business], as both are Web-ready,”
said David Cieslak, CPA and principal at Simi
Valley, Calif.-based Sage product consultant
Arxis Technology Inc. “The challenge is to
get those out the door as quickly as they can.
The market is clearly saying, ‘If we are going to implement a new product, it will need
Web deployability and accessibility. If they
table process, including the idea that younger
CPAs should be part of discussing the institute’s future, and social media should be used
to amp up communication efforts.
STANDARDS AND MORE
Council members also heard from Rick Anderson, chairman of Moss Adams, who chairs
the Blue Ribbon Panel charged with addressing how GAAP accounting standards can best
meet the needs of users of private company
financial statements. The panel, assembled
earlier this year, was selected by the AICPA,
the Financial Accounting Foundation and
NASBA with the goal of cross-representation
of financial statement users.
At their first two meetings, panel members
spent the majority of their time discussing
the needs of users of private company fin-
ancial statements and hearing testimonies.
Committee members agreed that there was
a “need to identify pros and cons for a dual
set of standards, including the unintended
consequences, and that there was a high level
of support for change.”
The committee’s next steps include staff
compiling a position paper that will address
the problem the panel is trying to solve and
identify other alternative models to U.S.
GAAP, as well as addressing infrastructure
questions, such as funding. These models
will be discussed at the July 19 meeting, after
which public input will be gathered.
“This has to be driven by the users,” An-
derson said to attendees. “The bigger users
of financial statements are third-party users.
Get your clients involved in monitoring the
process and providing input. It’s coming to-
the commitment to get things right.”
Other partners, such as Manny Buigas,
CPA and principal at Miami-based Axis
Global Partners, were encouraged by Sage’s
renewed commitment to CPAs, and to the
channel in general. However, he was more
pleased by its product strategy. “I really like
what I saw with its Connected Services offer-
ings and Sage Accpac ERP 6.0. Sage serves
millions of customers in the SMB space and
some of these offerings play well across their
entire product lines, such as FAS, Sage Pay-
ment Services, Sage CRM, etc.,” said Buigas.
“I think we will see more of a focus on getting
more attachment in these types of products
across all product lines. In addition, the abil-
ity to offer our customers marketing, recruit-
ing and payroll services in the future will en-
able us in the VAR channel to deliver ongoing
value to our customers.” AT
gether well and I expect we will have a good
recommendation at the end of the year.”
Council members received an update
from Washington given by Mark Peterson,
the AICPA’s vice president of congressional
and political affairs, and Edward Karl, vice
president of taxation, who addressed pending
legislative issues.
